FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT ACCOR - PAGE 2

PUNE: French hospitality group Accor, which has set the target of 50 hotels by 2015, is planning to expand mainly through its ibis and Novotel brands , a top company executive said. "We are on track with our target of 50 hotels in the country by 2015, with over 10 properties each year. This expansion will mainly through our ibis and Novotel brands," Accor India Senior Vice President, Operations, Jean-Michel Casse said at the opening of Novotel here. Novotel Pune is the eighth property in India under the brand, offering 223 guest rooms.

NEW DELHI: Emaar-MGF has entered a 50-50 joint venture (JV) with the international hospitality chain, Accor. The JV aims at building and operating a chain of 100 budget hotels with an investment of $300 million. Of this, the first 20 is likely to come up on Emaar-MGF's existing land bank. The JV will form a separate company by the name of Budget Hotels India. The hotel chain will use the brand name Formule 1, the brand name used by Accor internationally for its budget hotels.

AHMEDABAD: French hospitality group Accor, is planning to hike foreign equity participation in Indian venture, Meris International from the existing 74 per cent to 100 per cent. Meris International is a joint venture hotels management company, between Accor and Mahindra group. The JV company has been granted foreign collaboration to invest and develop mid-scale and economy class hotels in India and invest in other tourism projects in the country. The company has sought permission of the government to divest 26 per cent equity stake in Meris in favour of subsidiaries and affiliates of the parent foreign company ?

NEW DELHI: Hospitality firm Accor today said it will hire 1,100 people in India this year to meet the needs of its growing network. The company plans to operate 90 hotels in India by 2015. It already has 3,600 employees here, the company said in a statement. "We expect to create significant job opportunities across all segments varying from luxury to upscale, mid-scale and economy to low-cost," Accor India Regional Director Human Resources Ashwin Shirali said.

BANGALORE: When he came visiting India last year, Denis Hannequin , the chairman and chief executive of Paris-based hotel group Accor, wasn't impressed with his company's performance in India. "Just eight hotels in a decade... I was not happy with the development of the Accor brand in India," he says. Last week, Hannequin, a former McDonald's chief executive, returned to India with an aggressive plan that will help Accor add around 75 hotels in the country in three years, taking the number of properties from the current 15 to 90, and making India one of its key markets.

MUMBAI: Leading hotel operator Accor and InterGlobe, a travel corporation, on Wednesday announced the establishment of an investment fund for a portfolio of India hotel assets. Accor and InterGlobe would each hold 32 per cent equity in the fund. An affiliate of Pacifica Partners (Pacifica) would take a significant stake of up to 36 per cent equity in this fund, subject to requisite regulatory approvals, a press statement issued here stated. Pacifica Partners Private Limited is the asset manager to a joint venture hotel investment company established by an affiliate of GIC Real Estate Pvt Ltd and Host Hotels & Resorts.

BANGALORE: Paris-based hotel group Accor is accelerating opening up of hotels across India as it focus on the mid-market and economy segments hotels in the country. Its chairman and chief executive officer, Denis Hennequin talks about challenges faced by the company globally and Accor's business model and plans in India with Sobia Khan of ET, Excerpts... What is Accor's business model in India post restructuring? One mistake which global companies should avoid is to enter India with preset ideas.

MUMBAI: Global hospitality major Accor is eyeing 90 hotels and to become market leader among the international players in the country by 2015, a top company executive has said. "We are targeting 90 properties, either in operation or development, by 2015. The company, which will have 20 hotels by end of December this year, has 35 properties under construction," Accor Senior Vice President Operations India Jean Michel Casse told PTI here. Already the market leader in Australia, Thailand, Vietnam , Indonesia and South Korea, Accor is now aiming to become the leading hospitality group among international players in the country, he said.

NEW DELHI: The consultant advising New Delhi's municipal body on the process of maximising returns from the property that houses the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel at Mansingh Road has recommended the Tatas should have the right to match the highest bid in an open auction, possibly setting the stage for an intriguing bidding drama and paving the way for auctions of other hotel properties. A person privy to the contents of the interim report submitted by New Delhi Municipal Corporation's transaction advisor Ernst & Young said the consulting firm has proposed an open auction to select the operator, who would run the property on a 30-year lease.

NEW DELHI: By 2020 three out of every four branded hotel rooms in the country will be operated by international hotel chains, which will almost double their market share by then on the back of aggressive expansion even as their Indian rivals make sluggish progress. American hotel operator Marriott, for instance, has 52 hotels in the pipeline across its brands and Carlson Rezidor continues to pursue its ambitious target of having 125 operating hotels plus another 75 in the pipeline in India by 2020.